“Beware the ides of March”

  “Beware the ides of March” this is the famous quote that the soothsayer said to Julius Caesar in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar but it also could apply to the NFL and the Steelers this March in the 2012 offseason. The NFL free agent signing period begins March 13^th . 

The Steelers have already began the process of cutting many key veterans . Gone are mainstays like wide receiver Hines Wards , linebacker James Farrior and defensive end Aaron Smith.

Many decisions made in March can have long lasting effects on the Steelers future be it bad or good.

One of the main question that will be answered is the fate of Mike Wallace.

Will the Steelers resign restricted free agent wide receiver Mike Wallace to a long term deal or will another team be willing to give up a first round pick and throw a boat load of money at him ? Will the Steelers sign a free agent to fill some of the spots left by the departures of Ward,Smith , Farrior and others. Many of these questions will be answered in the coming weeks.

Many NFL teams spend much of their money chasing big name free agents trying for the quick fix in March. In past years this has proven to be a very faulty way to proceed.

The Steelers rarely make any big splashes in free agency but choose to sign their own players and on occasion bring in a potential player from another team but never too many surprises .

One of the main players I feel the Steelers should sign played with them last season, that player is wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery. With Hines Ward now gone the Steelers need a good veteran receiver with great leadership qualities and Cotchery is the perfect fit.

Its also hard to predict what effect new offensive coordinator Todd Haley will have in this process . Will he bring in a few players he may have coached in his past? What kind of players does her prefer ?

Many of the moves in March may determine what the Steelers do in the draft in April.

Time will tell if the Steelers are making the right moves in March but make no mistake these decisions

could either make or break their future .

Lets hope they are the right ones. I trust they will be.

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